FCC Enforcement Bureau Gets Deputy Chief

The FCC's big, busy and increasingly powerful Enforcement Bureau is getting a new enforcer.

Lisa Gelb, who had been deputy chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau, has been named deputy chief and chief of staff of the Enforcement Bureau, the largest bureau in the agency. Gelb is a onetime deputy city attorney in San Francisco and attorney in private practice.

That is the bureau that investigates complaints, something that grew in importance when the FCC took a case-by-case approach to enforcing some of its new neutrality regulations.

Gelb will have a couple of particular focuses—robocalls and disabled access to telecom services, plus provide legal and management counsel.

“I am very pleased that Lisa is joining the Enforcement Bureau,” said bureau chief Travis LeBlanc. “Her depth of knowledge about communications law, particularly in the areas of wireline telephone and broadband, her understanding of the Commission, her extensive management experience, and her good judgment are invaluable in managing the bureau’s workload.”

The Enforcement Bureau has come under criticism from some Hill and FCC Republicans over transparency issues but has also received praise from Democrats of the vigor with which its mission is pursued, which the FCC describes as a focus on competition, consumer protection, communications funding programs, and public safety.